Re: _Top_Ten_Myths_of_Technical_Communication

Subject: Re: _Top_Ten_Myths_of_Technical_Communication
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 10:06:11 -0700

Tom Murrell wrote:

> You know, I think for many people it's about the money. Here in Central
> Ohio, software developers are paid better--in many cases much
> better--than technical communicators. From everything I see, the same
> salary disparity exists elsewhere in the U.S., and probably in the
> world as well. I know I would be making a lot more money if I was still
> in software development.
>

The money depends on the company. In my experience, newer companies
(dare I say "dot.coms"?) seem to pay writers the same as
programmers. I've received the same money as programmers at the last
three companies where I worked long-term.

One reason for the attitude is that programming has a mystique -
especially for programmers themselves. They see themselves on top of
the world, so they can't imagine why anyone else wouldn't want to
join them. The media cultivates this attitude, too, babbling about
twenty-something programming geniuses. And let's face it, these are
fairly heady days for programmers, when they can get high-paying
jobs without a degree. They don't notice that they're often being
exploited, or that the senior programmers and CTO have their genius
AND twenty years' experience, but it's not surprising that the
average programmer should feel important.

--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
604.421.7189 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com

"Haven't you ever harbored the secret thought that Huck and Jim are
- at this instant - poling their raft down some river just beyond
our reach, so much more real are they than the shoe clerk who fitted
us just a forgotten day ago?"
- Dan Simmons, "Hyperion"

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